Whether you're an employee looking for a job or a hiring manager trying to fill a vacancy, it helps to know the going rate for a particular position. Fortunately, you don't have to trawl through job boards with a calculator to help you analyze salary information. Several handy online resources do all the work for you.

Bureau of Labor Statistics

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics offers a wealth of salary information across a broad spectrum of occupations. The BLS conducts an annual nationwide employer wage survey and publishes the results on its website. Go to BLS.gov and type a job title of interest in the search box in the top right corner of the page to view salary information. You can also access data segmented by industry sector and location, as well as broader mean and median wage information.

Indeed

Indeed, which claimed to be the world's number one job site as of December 2012, uses its database of vacancies to calculate the salaries employers are offering for particular occupations in real time. Navigate to Indeed's Salary Search tool and enter the title of the occupation in the search box. You can also filter your search by location. You'll see wage data for the job title you searched along with information on pay rates for related occupations.

Census Bureau

The Census Bureau provides broader data on compensation, wages and earnings. You can find a statistical abstract of Census Bureau data relating to earnings on its website. The information provided includes a breakdown of total compensation per employee by industry sector, average hourly earnings by private industry group, average annual wage by state and hourly rates by selected characteristics.

Glassdoor

Glassdoor, an online jobs and careers community, collects salary information from employees, job seekers and employers. Glassdoor allows you to search for wage information by job title, location and employer. Navigate to the Glassdoor website, select "Salaries" from the drop-down box in the top navigation bar and enter the details of the job title or employer you want to search. You can then filter your inquiry by location. You'll need to join the Glassdoor community if you're making more than one inquiry.

About the Author

Michael Roennevig has been a journalist since 2003. He has written on politics, the arts, travel and society for publications such as "The Big Issue" and "Which?" Roennevig holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the Surrey Institute and a postgraduate diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists at City College, Brighton.